Radium ballasts help

[grigsy]

+1 on M80 HQI ballasts and Radium 250 watt bulbs. They will give higher PAR with Radium bulbs versus
electronic ballasts and they tend to last a long time.

My Hamilton 250 watt HQI ballasts have been in use for 8+ years and still work great.

http://www.hamiltontechnology.com/item/Metal-Halide-HQI-250-Watt-Assembled-Ballast-378

 

[ganjero]

The m80 ballast IS the correct ballast for radium 250w. Call radium and ask.

I wouldn't say "IS the correct", as the bulb was not designed for the m80 ballast. It's the users choice and it's a great bulb on either e-ballasts or magnetic ballasts. :thumbsup:

 

[alton]

Great discussion on this topic. So I have shown how long my Radiums have and are lasting on my electronic ballast, how long do the lamps run on M80 ballast before dropping 10%? Also we have two lamps in the MH market, probe start (magnetic ballast) and pulse start (electro-magenetic and electronic ballast) both lamps can be run on either but to get the best results you match the ballast to the lamp. XM is probe start and Radium & Reeflux are Pulse start.

 

[krjackso]

Call radium and ask.

What's funny is I recently was going through this exact same thing as the OP. I was going primarily sps and the best tanks around were running radiums.

With that, I contacted radium and they actually deferred to their US distributor, CoralVue. I thought this was odd, but it is what it is. I was expecting to hear Radium say a magnetic ballast only but that was not the case.

After speaking with the CEO of Coral Vue and a few of his tech guys, they explained to me that their new electronic selectable LuxCore ballasts were made with Radiums in mind with their 250 HQI setting.

I am not a tech guru and believe the radiums were meant to run of M80 ballasts, but I went with the LuxCore and am very happy. Nice crisp white, not too blue like other e ballast users have found. I also bought a par meter and will be monitoring the results over the next year or so and may have more facts by then.

Hope I could help with another view point and ballast. Sorry to add to the list.:debi:

 

[ganjero]

I wouldn't say "IS the correct", as the bulb was not designed for the m80 ballast. It's the users choice and it's a great bulb on either e-ballasts or magnetic ballasts. :thumbsup:

Sorry I was half asleep last night and trolling a little by being literal.

I should've added that M80 is an ANSI code, so the bulb was not "technically" designed for an "M80" ballast but rather an Europen spec'ed ballast.

That said, the ANSI M80 ballast meets the European standards and drives the bulb to spec, however I have not seen issues with using electronic ballasts nor do I believe anymore that "underdriving" this bulb by using an e-ballast shorten its life.

You do get more PAR if you use the M80 ballasts which will draw about 330w from the wall and put about 270w on the bulb; I would rather run a 250w radium on an M80 ballast than bumping to a 400w radium.

From my experience and seeing others' experiences I believe it's a matter of personal choice because I have experienced/seen great results using either the M80 ballasts or e-ballasts.

Finally, I agree with everybody that have said it, the M80 is the only ballast in the US that will run the bulb to spec.

ps. I used to run radiums on PFO HQI ballasts when I was in CA. In my current tank I use lumatek and galaxy ballasts just because they were easier and cheaper to acquire and give me the versatility of running other bulbs if I want or need to.

 

[tkeracer619]

Forgot radiums were now imported by cv. It's probably in the fine print now to forward those questions to them.

Not that I'm paranoid but why would you choose an importer that markets a bulb who is marketed in direct competition. Smart on coralvues part though.

 

[sirreal63]

CoralVue doesn't offer anM80 ballast, it is no surprise that they sell what they have. "No Coke...Pepsi". I wouldn't say it is a mistake to run an electronic, it isn't, but if you want to get the most out of the bulb, run it to spec.

 

[hoaglanddiver]

I have a galaxy Select-a-watt.. 250, 400, HQI (M80). I run my radiums on the HQI setting.

 

[aandfsoccr04]

neither drives the bulbs properly in your poll. HTH

I run mine on the bluewave ballasts which are M80 magnetic ballasts and drive the bulbls to spec and my results have been amazing since switching from an electronic ballast running an XM 20k bulb

 

[alton]

Coral Vue is just a name, just like many other companies have gone by the waste side and now owns and reps a bunch of products. Not to slander them because I use a bunch of there great products, I just miss the old days of calling and asking for David to get a problem fixed. Still waiting on someone to post how long there lamps are lasting on the M80 ballast?

 

[NikeLV]

UPDATE*
So I got the Reeflex Cube Ballast (which should be a M80 Ballast right?) and a SLS Lumen Max Elite Mogul Reflector. I was excited and all, but when I tried plugging everything in, I found that the SLS reflector plug would not fit into the Reeflex Cube!
If anybody has had this problem, please give me the solution! I am very frustrated right now!!

 

[Purple Rocks]

Hello

If i may, You might wanna look into Advanced Nutrients Ellectronic Square Wave Ballasts.
If I remember they are electronic ballasts that mimic hrtz and frequency of a magnetic ballast but "clean up" an produce a much more constant power supply without the heat waste created by the old school tech.

I believe you can also pick up a 600w lumatek run the bulb at a higher hrtz and switch it to the 360w setting therefore running your radium at a safer wattage.

i have no experience with these "radiums" just my 2 cents.
I must also say that Advanced Nutrients has the best customer service in the grow industry, and will answer any and all questions pertaining to there products, plus there Canadian too!

 

[ct_vol]

UPDATE*
So I got the Reeflex Cube Ballast (which should be a M80 Ballast right?) and a SLS Lumen Max Elite Mogul Reflector. I was excited and all, but when I tried plugging everything in, I found that the SLS reflector plug would not fit into the Reeflex Cube!
If anybody has had this problem, please give me the solution! I am very frustrated right now!!

Strip the quick connect ends off and use extension cord end replacements... At least that is what I do for all of my ballasts and pendants... :thumbsup: